Keeping the books on emission units

The document emphasizes that robust accounting rules and quality criteria are essential for the integrity of future carbon markets to avoid double counting and ensure net atmospheric benefits. It advocates for consistency across different mechanisms, including those for international aviation (ICAO), and warns against including land-use activities like REDD-plus in carbon markets due to risks of leakage and impermanence.

• A rigorous accounting framework and robust unit quality requirements are necessary to track units used for climate targets, prevent double counting, and ensure net atmospheric benefits.
• Consistency in accounting standards is required across various mechanisms, including the UN climate treaty and the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) global market-based mechanism for aviation emissions, to prevent double counting.
• Internationally traded units must meet quality criteria to be real, permanent, additional, and verified, which should include a 'negative list' to exclude specific technologies like coal power projects based on experience from the CDM and JI.
• Land use, forestry, and agriculture activities, including REDD-plus, are considered unsuitable for carbon markets and project-based offsetting due to high risks of impermanence and leakage.

APA

CMW (2014). Keeping the books on emission units. Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2014/11/25/keeping-the-books-on-emission-units/

Chicago

CMW. Keeping the books on emission units. Carbon Market Watch, 2014. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2014/11/25/keeping-the-books-on-emission-units/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=CMW |title=Keeping the books on emission units |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=25 November 2014 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2014/11/25/keeping-the-books-on-emission-units/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{cmw2014keeping, author = {CMW}, title = {{Keeping the books on emission units}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2014}, month = nov, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2014/11/25/keeping-the-books-on-emission-units/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }